Drop-down fill spout for bag filling machine

ABSTRACT

An improved filling spout for a bag filling machine of the type wherein a plurality of articles are filled in a rapid sequence in a bag which is subsequently closed. The novel filling spout is dropped down into the pre-opened bag and is pivoted outwardly against the inner walls of the bag while an external gripper means is pivoted inwardly against the external walls of the bag thereby firmly grasping the bag between the gripper means and the filling spout. The linkage which relates to the filling spout and the gripper means is designed so that the weight of the product increases in the bag, the effective result is an increase in the pressure between the filling spout and the gripper means. The novel configuration of the filling spout, in the shape of a pair of pivotable overlapping clamshells, minimizes spillage and reduces unpleasant dust that occurs during the filling operation especially when filling the bags with charcoal or the like.

[ Aug. 20, 1974 United States Patent n91 Hudson DROP-DOWN FILL SPOUT FORBAG Primary Examiner-Houston S. Bell, Jr. Assistant Examiner-FrederickR. Schmidt FELLING MACHINE Doyle R. Hudson, West Monroe, La.

[73] Assignee: Okinkraft Inc., West Monroe, La.

[75] Inventor:

[57] ABSTRACT An improved filling spout for a bag filling machine of thetype wherein a plurality of articles are filled in a 22 Filed:Mar.23,1973

211 App]. No.: 344,120

rapid sequence in a bag which is subsequently closed. The novel fillingspout is dropped down into the preopened bag and is pivoted outwardlyagainst the inner 177/160 walls of the bag while an external grippermeans is pivoted inwardly against the external walls of the bag therebyfirmly grasping the bag between the gripper means and the filling spout.The linkage which relates to the filling spout and the gripper means isdesigned so that the weight of the product increases in the bag, theeffective result is an increase in the pressure between the fillingspout and the gripper means. The

References Cited novel configuration of the filling spout, in the shapeof a pair of pivotable overlapping clamshells, minimizes UNITED STATESPATENTS spillage and reduces unpleasant dust that occurs dur- 141/114 Xing the filling operation especially when filling the' 141/314 bags withcharcoal or the like. Schwake et 141/317 2,703,671 3/1955Kindseth..............r.......... 2,784,749 3/1957 Baker............,..3 498,344 3/1970 13 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENIEn mszown smeors'VACUUM SOURCE PAIENTEB wszmem smaur FIG. 6

DROP-DOWN FILL SPOUT FOR BAG FILLING i MACHINE CROSS REFERENCES TORELATED APPLICATIONS US. Pat. No. 3,698,451, issued Oct. 17, .1972 toDoyle R. Hudson and entitled Automatic Bag Opening and FillingApparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION US. Pat. No. 3,750,721, issued 8/7/73 toDoyle R. Hudson and entitled Expanding Fill Spout for Bag 7 FillingMachine? US. Pat. No. 3,755,986, issued 9/4/73 to Doyle R. Hudson andentitled Gusset Reformer.

US. Pat. No. 3,796,300, issued 3/12/74 to Doyle R. Hudson and entitledMultiple Finger Pushers.

This invention relates generally to a filling machine for filling a bagor other objects with a plurality of items contained within a fillingspout positioned above the filling machine. More particularly theinvention relates to an improved new and novel drop-down fill spoutwhich is lowered into the pre-opened bag and is then pivoted to itsfilling position while a plurality of gripper means are positioned onthe outside of the bag to firmly grasp the bag against the expanded fillspout to hold the bag firmly in place while the bag is filled from thefilling hopper. y

In the operation of filling large and bulky objects in a bag, such ascharcoal briquettes commonly used inoutdoor cooking and such as largechunks or cubes of ice, the problem of coordinating the fillingoperation with the placement of the bag to be filled on the fill spouthas been long felt. Prior art filling machines, of one type, consistedof a one-piece fill spout formed on the bottom portion of the generallyconical-shaped filling container into which was automatically placed theproper amounts of materials to be filled in the bag. In 'order toproperly position the bag on the solid filling spout, the operator wouldusually open the bag by hand and position either the bag around thefilling spout or the bag underneath the filling spout. This required thefilling spout to be considerably smaller than the diameter of the bag sothat the operator could attain the necessary speed in opening the bagsand positioning them over the spout or so that the bag could be filledfrom the spout without spilling the contents on the ground. Such crudehand operations often required the fill spout to be in the range offorty per cent smaller than the opening of the bag which of courselimited the amount of material that could be filled in the bag inpassing through the fill spout and into the bag over a given period oftime. This type of filling operation is typified by the US. Pat. No.2,309,760,'issued Feb. 2, 1943 to G. B. First.

Another problem encountered with the hand filling operation was the useof the smaller fill spout opening which caused a bridging of thearticles being filled with the spout. Since the opening was considerablysmaller than the bag diameter, the objects being filled would tend tohang up in the spout thereby slowing down the filling operation orresulting in a bag which was either overfilled or underfilled dependingupon the timing sequence of the filling circuit.

which shows another variation of the filling machine wherein the bag israised upto the filling spout by a hand operation. In a similar mannerthe US. Pat. No. 2,585,335, issued Feb. 12, 1952 to C. B. McHale et al,again utilizes the hand technique by placing the sack upside down on aplurality of sack carriers.

For a further study of prior art filling methods reference should bemade to the following patents which represent variations of fillingmachines all of which attempt to solve the same basic problem of fillingthe bag as fast as possible with a predetermined amount of articleswithout having any resulting jamups in the equipment:

After reviewing the above-mentioned patents it will be noted that, withthe exception of the Twigg patent, all of the prior art attempts atsolving the problem appear to be utilizing hand positioning of the bagon the filling spout or raising the bag to the filling spout byautomatic means or positioning the bag under the filling spout andpivoting a filling spout into the bag. For example the Holler referenceis a variation of the first reference and teaches bringing the bag tothe filling spout by means of a rotary motion whereupon the contents arepoured through the filling spout into the bag. It should be noted thatthis arrangement would be unsatisfactory for packaging charcoal or thelike since there is no means for sealing the dust and small particlesthat arise when the charcoal is rapidly filled into the bag. The twoHopkins references both utilize the principle of carrying the bag to thefilling spout and positioning the bag on the filling spout generally byhand which is slow and not feasible in todays packaging design. In alike manner the McGowan reference also raises the bag into position onthe filling spout but in this version the raising is done automaticallyby various linkages in the bag machine.

A somewhat different approach is taught in the Hudson patent wherein thebag is positioned underneath the filling spout and a plurality ofopening and holding means are pivoted into the opened bag whereupon thecontents of the filling spout are emptied into the bag. This version wasthe forerunner of the subject invention and represents the applicantsthoughts as to how the bag filling machine of the present and futurewill have to be designed in order to keep up with the ever increasingdemand for consumer products. In the beforementioned US. Pat. No.3,750,721 of Doyle R. Hudson, there is shown another version of a bagopening and filling mechanism whereby the bag is brought upwardly to thefilling spout which is then expanded into the bag and the bag is held byan external gripping means while the bag is being filled. This versionhas proven to be satisfactory for certain sizes and types of bags,generally in the smaller sizes, but has proven to be unsatisfactory forthe larger sizes and types of bags. The reason for this is that it hasbeen found to be unfeasible to raise a large bag such as a 25 or 50pound charcoal or ice bag upward to heights of 4 or 5 inches to theSUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to overcome the problems inherent inthe prior art devices mentioned, there has been provided by the subjectinvention anew and novel drop-down fill spout for a bag filling machineof the type that generally will be utilized to fill the larger sizes ofbags. Instead of bringing the bag up onto the filling spout, the

applicants concept is to bring the filling spout downward into thepreopened bag and to utilize other new and novel features to allow thelarger size bags to be rapidly filled thereby obviating the problemsinherent in the prior art devices. This is accomplished by automaticallylowering the filling spout into a pre-opened bag and then pivoting thefilling spout, which has a new and novel configuration, to a fillingposition within the bag while gripping the outer portion of the bag withan external gripping means. As the bag is being filled, due to theparticular design of the parts, the addition of objects in the bag fromthe filling process serves to effectively increase the gripping pressureon the bag.

Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide a new and novelbag filling machine which brings the filling spout downwardly into apreviously opened bag and provides gripping means for gripping the outerportion of the bag while the bag is being filled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and novel fillingmachine which makes provision for substantially sealing the upperportion of the bag against the escape of dust and other airborneparticles while the bag is being filled in the filling machine.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and novelfilling machine which grips the upper portion of the bag while the bagis being filled and continually increases the pressure on the upperportion of the bag as the bag is made progressively heavier by thefilled objects.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a new and novelfilling spout which is formed as a generally large slideable sleevesection which allows fast filling of the bag without resultant jamups inthe filling section of the machine.

Still yet another object of the invention is to provide a new and novelmethod for filling bags in a filling machine which comprises positioninga bag underneath the filling bin while opening the upper portion of thebag and while lowering a plurality of pivotable clamshells into thepre-opened bag and finally pivoting the clamshells to a filling positionand externally gripping the outer portion of the bag to firmly grip thebag between the clamshells and the gripping means. A further object ofthe invention is to provide a new and novel method whereby after the bagis gripped by the gripping means a further pressure is applied by thegripping means to firmly hold the bag on the clamshells due to the newand novel configuration of the part while the bag is being madeprogressively heavier.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from areview of the specification and from a on the filling spout while itshown more fully in FIG. 3 of the drawing and are held Y study of thedrawings attached hereto as part of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of the new andnovel filling spout utilized in the bag filling machine of the inventionshowing a bag positioned underneath the filling spout with the fillingspout being retracted upwardly prior to insertion into the opened bag;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 showing the opened bagand its position relative to the dead plate of the filling machine;

FIG. 3 is a partial end view, taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial side view of the drop-down fill spout, showing thefill spout in its lowermost position and the gripping means beingpositioned around the neck of the bag to firmly position the bag betweenthe gripper means and the clamshells;

FIG. 5 is a view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3 showing the drop-downfill spout in its uppermost position and showing the relationship of thepivotable clamshells to the gripper means; and i FIG. 6 is a view takenalong line 6-6 of FIG. 4 show ing the fill spout in its downwardmostposition with the gripper means positioned inwardly to firmly grip thebag between the gripper means and the clamshells.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings ingeneral and in-particular to FIG. I of the drawings there is shown thenew and novel drop-down fill spout device of the invention generally bythe numeral 10 and comprises a pair of clamshells l2 and 14 which arepivotably mounted, by means of pins 16 and 18, to a pair of side plates20 and 22. The side plate 20 is positioned on one side of the pair ofclamshells l2 and 14 while the side plate 22 is positioned on the otherside of the clamshells and is spaced apart from the first side plate 20by means of a plurality of sleeves 24, 26 and 28. These sleeves are inposition by means of a plurality of pins 30 by means well known in theart. The pins 30 also carry a portion of the gripper means which will bemore fully described hereinafter.

The clamshell 12 is formed in a generally U-shaped configuration whilethe clamshell 14 is formed in the same general configuration withoverlapped end portions 32 and 34 which overlap the ends 36 and 38 ofthe clamshell 12.

Referring now to FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 of the drawing there will bedescribed the relationship of the gripping means to the beforementionedclamshells. The gripper means, shown generally by the numeral 40comprises a pair of gripper plates 42 and 44 having an arcuate grippersurface 46 and 48 conforming to the same general shape as the clamshellsl2 and 14. The gripper surface 46 and 48 also has formed thereon arubber gripper pad 50 and 52 by means well known in the art. The gripperpads 50 and 52 aid in gripping the bag 54 which is positioned on theclamshells l2 and 14 as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The gripper plate 42 is carried by means of the parallel bars 56 and 58through a plurality of pins 60 as well as a plurality of pins 30 fixedto the side plates 20 and 22. In a like manner the gripper plate 44 iscarried by means of the parallel bars 62 and 64 by means of theplurality of pins 66 as well as the plurality of pins 30 which are fixedto the side plates 20 and 22. When carried in this manner, the gripperplates 42 and 44 are designed to move substantially horizontal in thedirection shown by the arrow 68 as will be explained more fullyhereinafter.

As beforementioned the clamshells 12 and 14 are pivotably mounted to theside plates 20 and 22 by means of the pins 16 and 18. Formed on theouter portion of the clamshells 12 and 14 are a generally U- shapedreinforcing member 70 and 72 which have fixedly attached thereto aplurality of pins 74 and 76.

'The parallel bars 56 also have formed there between a pin 78 while theparallel bars 62 have formed there between a pin 80. Formed between thepins 74 and 78 is an elongated linkage 82 which controls the motion ofthe clamshell 12 while formed between the pins 76 and 80 is an elongatedlinkage 84 which controls the motion of the clamshell 14. By referringto FIG. 5 of the drawing and from known engineering laws, it can readilybe seen that due to the respective positioning of the various linkagesand pins, a substantially horizontal motion of the gripper plates 42 and44 in the direction shown by the arrows 68 which cause a correspondingarcuate movement of the clamshells 12 and 14 in the direction shown bythe arrows 86, pivoting the clamshells 12 and 14 against the gripperplates 42 and 44.

Referring now back to FIG. 1 of the drawing and also FIG. 3 of thedrawing and following with FIG. 4 of the drawing there will be describedin detail how the gripper plates and clamshells are able to bepositioned in their respective positions. The complete bag fillingmachine generally has formed above the drop-down fill spout of theinvention a filling bin not shown in the drawing. Formed on the lowerportion of the filling bin is a transition chute 88 which serves todirect the materials from the filling bin to the filling spout andultimately to the bag to be filled. Formed on the lower portion of thetransition section 88 is an open-ended sleeve section 90 which issurrounded by a substantially vertical slideable sleeve section 92. Theslideable sleeve section 92 is designed for an upward and downwardmotion in the direction shown by the arrow 94 and is carried by the sideplates 20 and 22 by means of a plurality of structural supportingmembers 96 and 98. The structural support members 96 are rigidlyfastened to one side of the slideable sleeve 92 and to the side plate 20while the structural support members 98 are rigidly fastened to theother side of the slideable sleeve 92 and to the slide plate 22 as shownin FIG. 3 of the drawing and by means well known in the art. Whenfastened in this manner it becomes apparent that whenever the slideablesleeve 92 moves in the substantially vertical direction shown by thearrow 94, the connected side plates 20 and 22 along with the grippermeans 40 will travel in the same direction.

The movement of the slideable sleeve 92 and the gripper means 40 in theupward and downward direcof the cylinder 100 is connected to the sideplate by means well known in the art and in a similar manner the rod end110 of the cylinder 102 is connected to the side plate 22. As a resultit can be seen that by applying power to the cylinders 1110 and 102, theslideable sleeve 92 as well as the gripper means 40 can be downwardlypositioned and can be also retracted in a similar manner.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 5 of the drawing there will be describedthe manner in which the gripper means and the clamshells are positionedin their respective positions after a downwardly travel of theslideablesleeve 92. Rigidly attached to the transition chute 88 are apair of brackets 112 and 114 which carry a plurality of threaded rods116 and 118. The rod 116 is positioned within a hole 120 formed in thebracket 112 and in a similar manner the rod 118 is positioned within ahole 122 formed in the bracket 114. Surrounding the rod 116 is a washer124 and surrounding the rod 118 is a washer 126.. The threaded ends 128and 130 of the rod 116 and 118 contain a nut 132 and 134 which isadjustable to stop against the washers 124 and 126 at a pre-determinedposition.

The rods 116 and 118 have formed in the lower portion thereof a collar136 and 138 which serves as a base for the springs 140 and 142 which aregrounded at their other ends surrounding the holes 120 and 122 in thebrackets 112 and 114. The lower end of the rods 116 and 118 arerotatably mounted to a pair of pins 144 and 146 which are in turnfixedly attached to the reinforcing members 70 and 72. Due to therespective positions of the pin 144 and 146 in relation to the pivotpins 16 and 18, it can be seen that a downwardly motion of the slideablesleeve 92 in the direction shown by the arrow 94 will cause thebeforementioned motion of the clamshells 12 and 14 as well as thegripper means 40.

When the slideable sleeve 92 is in its upper position as shown in FIG. 1of the drawing and a power is applied to the cylinders 100 and 102, thesleeve will travel downwardly until the rods 116 and 118 are stopped byvirtue of the nuts 132 and 134 grounding on the washers 124 and 126.Thereupon a further downward travel of the slideable sleeve 92, as wellas the side plates 20 and 22, will cause the clamshells 12 and 14 topivot around the pins 16 and 18 to their outwardly open position shownin FIG. 6 of the drawing. At the same time as a result of the linkage 82and 84, the outward travel of the clamshells 12 and 14 will cause aninward travel of the gripper means 41) to its gripping position as shownin FIG. 4 of the drawing.

OPERATION In operation the bag 54 is positioned underneath the drop-downfill spout as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawing and by means forming nopart of this invention. When positioned in this manner it is held apre-determined distance above a trough-shaped member 148 fixedlyattached to the base 150 of the filling machine. This pre-determineddistance 152 is determined by the type of bag that is being filled bythe filling machine and generally ranges between /2 inch and 1 inch.When filling a self-opening style bag, this distance is necessary inorder for the bottom of the bag to be completely opened as the productis filled into the bag. When filling a sewn open mouth type bag, thisdistance is determined by the bag gussets since the bottom of the bagtends to lift a predetermined distance from the troughshaped member 148as the bag is being filled. From this the observation can be made that,without applying complicated means to support the bottom of the bagwhile it is being filled, it becomes necessary to support the bag fromthe gripper means attached to the dropdown fill spout of the invention.

As the bag 54 is positioned underneath the filling spout 10 it is openedby means of a plurality of vacuum suction cups 154 which hold the bagopen until the gripper means 40 is positioned against the openedclamshells 12 and 14 to firmly hold the bag. Thereupon the suction cups154 return to the bag hopper, not shown in the drawing, to withdraw thenext succeeding bag.

After a bag has been opened by the suction cups 154, the power cylinders100 and 102 are activated to drive the slideable sleeve 92 and itsconnected parts downwardly bringing the pivotable clamshells 12 and 14downwardly into the interior of the bag while at the same time bringingthe gripper means 40 in the form of the gripper plates 42 and 44outwardly around the upper portion of the bag. As beforementionedwhenever the nuts 132 and 134 stop on the washers 124 and 126, a furtherdownward movement of the slideable sleeve 92 will cause the pivotableclamshells l2 and 14 to pivot outwardly to their open position whilesimultaneously causing the gripper plates 42 and 44 to be positionedinwardly against the upper edges 156 of the bag 54 as shown in FIG. 4 ofthe drawing.

The gripper plate 42 as well as the gripper plate 44 also has formedthereon a sensing device 158 and 160- in the form of a microswitch whichsenses the presence of absence of a bag between the gripper means andthe clamshells. When the sensing device 158 and 160 detects the absenceof a bag, due to a malfunction of the supply mechanism, the fillingsequence of the bag filling machine will be interrupted until a bag isultimately .in position on the filling spout.

After the bag 54 is in position on the clamshells 12 and 14, the fillingsequence of the machine, forming no part of this invention, is startedand the bag is filled with the required amount of product such ascharcoal, ice or the like. During the filling sequence the powercylinders 100 and 102 continue to exert a downward force through theframe means 20. This force, transmitted through linkages, whichinterconnect the clamshells, the gripper plates and the fixed frame 112114, produce gripping action between plates 42 and 44 and the clamshellsl2 and 14, respectively, so that the empty bag 54 is securely held. Thelinkage which relates to the clamshells, the gripper plates and the rods128 and 130 is such that as the weight of the product increases in thebag, the effect result is an increase in the downward pressure on theframe 20. This added force being restrained by rods 128 and 130effectively increases the clamp pressure between the gripper plates andthe clamshells.

After the bag is completely filled, the power cylinders 100 and 102 arereversed, by means well known in the art, to retract the gripping meansfrom the clamshells which are in turn pivoted inwardly to theirnonfilling position allowing the bag to drop the small predetermineddistance 152 onto the trough-shaped member 148 whereupon they areultimately sewn shut. The further reversal of the power cylinders 100and 102 causes the entire drop-down filling mechanism to be raised toits upward position shown in FIG. 1 of the drawing ready for the nextbag and a repeat of the entire cycle.

In practicing the method taught by the use of the subject drop-downfilling spout, the bag is positioned underneath the filling bin whilethe upper portion of the bag is opened with external means such asvacuum cups. Thereupon the plurality of pivotable clamshells are loweredinto the pre-opened bag to a predetermined position within the bag andare then pivoted to a filling position within the bag while externally aplurality of horizontal gripping means is inwardly positioned on theouter portion of the bag to firmly grip the bag between the plurality ofclamshells and the 1 gripping means. Thereupon the bag is filled withthe objects from the filling machine while a further filling of the bagserves to increase the pressure holding the bag between the grippingmeans and the clamshells and a horizontal retracting of the grippingmeans allows the bag then to drop a small pre-determined distance to thedatum plane of the filling machine. whereupon the clamshells are alsopivoted inwardly and raised to the non-filling position ready for arepeat of the cycle with the positioning of the next bag underneath thefilling spout.

From the above it can be seen that a new and novel drop-down fill spoutfor a bag filling machine has been provided which allows a plurality ofarticles to be filled in a rapid sequence into the bag in a mannerheretofore unobtainable with prior art filling machines. The novelconfiguration of the filling spout, in the shape of a pair of pivotableoverlapping clamshells, minimizes spillage and reduces unpleasant dustthat normally occurs during a filling operation especially when fillingthe bags with charcoal or the like. The device of the invention and themethod of the invention allows the filling of much larger size bags withbulkier and heavier objects without having to drop the filled bag agreat distance to the base of the filling machine as has been thepractice in previous type filling machines. The device utilizes theadded weight of the filled product to aid in holding the bag on thefilling spout until the filling is complete. As a result, the ultimatereforming of the gussets of the bag by the next step in the fillingmachine is accomplished in a much easier manner since the jarring of thebag, caused by its dropping, is minimized and the displacement of thebag on the datum base of the filling machine is also minimized. As aresult, jamups at the gusset reformer are also minimized therebyminimizing downtime caused by such jamups.

From the foregoing it can be seen that a new and novel drop-down fillspout and method have been provided which accomplish all of the objectsand advantages of the invention. Nevertheless, it is apparent that manychanges in details of construction or arrangement of the parts of theinvention or in the steps of the method may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in theaccompanying claims and the invention is not to be limited to the exactmatters shown and described since only the preferred embodiments havebeen given by way of illustration only.

Having described the invention, 1 claim:

1. A method for machine filling a bag from a pivotable clamshell typefilling spout with gripping means associated therewith below a fillingbin, the machine having a frame and a base formed on the frame,comprising the steps of:

a. opening the upper portion of the bag aftenthe bag has been positionedbeneath the filling spout and at a predetermined position above thebase;

b. lowering the pivotable clamshells into the preopened bag to apredetermined position within the bag while lowering the gripping meansto a predetermined position on the outside of the bag;

c. pivoting the clamshells outwardly to a filling position within thebag while inwardly positioning the gripping means on the outer portionof the bag to firmly gripthe bag between the plurality of clamshellsandthe gripping means, the pivoting clamshells and the inwardly positionedgripping means combining to provide a gripping force on the bag; and

d. filling the bag with objects from the filling bin while allowing thebag to lower as it is being filled below its original position, thelowering of the bag caused by the added weight of the objects in the bagcausing an increase in the gripping force between the clamshells and thegripping means.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 further compris ing the step of:

e. retracting the gripping means while pivoting the clamshells to aninclined non-filling position thereby allowing the bag to drop apre-determined distance to the base of the filling machine.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 further comprising the step of:

f. raising the clamshells and the gripping means upwardly to anon-filling position.

4. A bag filling machine of the type for filling a bag with a pluralityof objects and utilizing a filling structure comprising in part fillingspouts with gripping means on the upper portion of the bag to retain theupper portion open during filling, comprising:

a. a frame, having a base formed thereon;

b. means, associated with said frame, for opening the upper portion ofthe bag after the bag has been positioned underneath the filling spoutsand at a predetermined distance above the base;

c. means, associated with said frame, for lowering the filling spoutsinto the opened bag and for lowering the gripping means on the outsideof the opened bag; and h d. means, associated with said frame, forpositioning the filling spouts outwardly to a filling position withinthe bag while positioning the gripping means inwardly to a grippingposition against the bag and the filling spouts;

1. said positioning means in combination with the filling spouts and thegripping means also serving to apply an increasing gripping pressure tothe upper portion of the bag as the bag is filled with the objects andsettles within the pre-determined distance to firmly grasp the bagbetween the gripping means and the filling spouts.

5, The bag filling machine as defined in claim 4 further comprising:

e. means, associated with said frame, for releasing the gripped bag bypositioning the filling spouts inwardly to a non-filling position andwhile positioning the gripping means outwardly to a non-grippingposition.

6. The bag filling machine as defined in claim 5 further comprising:

f. means, associated with said frame, for raising the filling spouts andthe gripping means above and out of proximity to the upper portion ofthe bag.

7. The bag filling machine as defined in claim 4 wherein said openingmeans comprises in part a plurality of suction cups.

8. The bag filling machine as defined in claim 4 wherein thepre-determined distance ranges from approximately one-half inch to 1inch.

9. The bag filling machine as defined in claim 4 wherein the fillingspouts are formed as a pair of clamshells, each clamshell having agenerally U-shaped configuration with overlapping ends.

10. In a bag filling device for a packaging machine of the type whereina plurality of objects are filled into a bag from a storage bin having alower transitional filling chute section, the improvement comprising:

a. an open ended fixed sleeve section being formed on the lower portionof the transition chute;

b. a substantially vertical slideable sleevesection surrounding saidfixed sleeve;'

c. a plate member fixedly attached to said slideable sleeve;

d. a plurality of moveable and pivotable clamshells carried by saidplate member and surrounding the lower portion of said slideable sleeve,said clamshells being moveable from an upward non-filling position to adownward non-filling position and then to an outward filling position;

e. a plurality of retractable gripping means, associated with said platemember, said gripping means being moveable from an upward non-grippingposition to a downward non-gripping position and then to an inwardgripping position; and

f. means, associated with the transition chute, the plate member, theslideable sleeve, the pivotable clamshells, and the retractable grippingmeans, for carrying and positioning the plate member, the clamshells,the slideable sleeve and the gripping means in such a manner that theslideable sleeve can be moved downwardly to a predetermined position,with the clamshells inside the bag and the gripping means outside thebag, after which the pivotable clamshells may be pivoted outwardly totheir filling position and the retractable gripping means may bepositioned inwardly to their gripping positions to exert a grippingforce to retain the bag therebetween, a further downwardly movement ofthe plate member caused by a lowering of the bag as it is filled servingto increase the gripping force on the bag.

11. The improvement as defined in claim 10 wherein said carrying andpositioning means comprises in part at least one positioning cylinderfixedly attached at its upper end to the transition chute and fixedlyattached at its lower end to the plate member for vertical movement ofthe frame in proximity and out of proximity to the bag.

12. The improvement as defined in claim 11 wherein said carrying andpositioning means further comprises in part a plurality of elongatedrods pivotably mounted to said clamshells at one end thereof andslideably mounted at the other end thereof to the transition chute, saidrods being spring biased so that an upward motion of the plate memberserves to pivot the clamshells to an upward non-filling position whereasa downward motion of the plate member serves to move theclamshellsdownwardly first to a downward nonfilling position, a furtherdownward motion of the plate member serving to pivot the clamshells toan outwardfilling position.

13. The improvement as defined in claim 12 wherein said carrying andpositioning means further comprises in part a plurality of inclined rodswhich are pivotably mounted at their upper ends to the clamshells andare pivotably mounted at their lower ends to the retracting grippingmeans, said spring biased elongated rods and said gripping means beinginterrelated in such a manner that a predetermined downward motion ofthe plate and the clamshells.

23 g UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No-3.830.266 AuensL.2 Q.. l2ZL Inventor) Doyle R. Hudson It is certifiedthat error appears in the above-identified patent and that seid LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the Abstract line 11,, after "so that" insert. as

' Column 1, line 10, delete "Baekground of the Invention".

Column 1', 1ine ,18,v insert Backgroundof the Invention Column 1 line59, change "with" to within Signed and sealed this 3rd day of December1974.

(SEAL) Arrest: v

McCOY M. GIBSON JR. c. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Q Commissioner ofPatents 222g? 7 STATES PATENT OFFICE I CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PatentNo- 3 33; 255 I Dated An 2Q 1914 Inventor(s) Doyle R. Hudson I It iscertified that error appears in the aboveidentified patent and that seidLetters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the Abstract line 11,. aftex "so th at' i nserf as Column 1, line 10,delete "Background of the Invention".

Column 1, 1ine ,18, insert Background of the Invention Column '1 line59; ehange "with" to within Signed and sealed this 3rd day of December1974.

(SEAL) Attest: I I

MeCOY M. GIBSON JR C. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Cmmnissioner. ofPatents

1. A method for machine filling a bag from a pivotable clamshell typefilling spout with gripping means associated therewith below a fillingbin, the machine having a frame and a base formed on the frame,comprising the steps of: a. opening the upper portion of the bag afterthe bag has been positioned beneath the filling spout and at apredetermined position above the base; b. lowering the pivotableclamshells into the pre-opened bag to a predetermined position withinthe bag while lowering the gripping means to a predetermined position onthe outside of the bag; c. pivoting the clamshells outwardly to afilling position within the bag while inwardly positioning the grippingmeans on the outer portion of the bag to firmly grip the bag between theplurality of clamshells and the gripping means, the pivoting clamshellsand the inwardly positioned gripping means combining to provide agripping force on the bag; and d. filling the bag with objects from thefilling bin while allowing the bag to lower as it is being filled belowits original position, the lowering of the bag caused by the addedweight of the objects in the bag causing an increase in the grippingforce between the clamshells and the gripping means.
 2. The method asdefined in claim 1 further comprising the step of: e. retracting thegripping means while pivoting the clamshells to an inclined non-fillingposition thereby allowing the bag to drop a pre-determined distance tothe base of the filling machine.
 3. The method as defined in claim 2further comprising the step of: f. raising the clamshells and thegripping means upwardly to a non-filling position.
 4. A bag fillingmachine of the type for filling a bag with a plurality of objects andutilizing a filling structure comprising in part filling spouts withgripping means on the upper portion of the bag to retain the upperportion open during filling, comprising: a. a frame, having a baseformed thereon; b. means, associated with said frame, for opening theupper portion of the bag after the bag has been positioned underneaththe filling spouts and at a pre-determined distance above the base; c.means, associated with said frame, for lowering the filling spouts intothe opened bag and for lowering the gripping means on the outside of theopened bag; and d. means, associated with said frame, for positioningthe filling spouts outwardly to a filling position within the bag whilepositioning the gripping means inwardly to a gripping position againstthe bag and the filling spouts;
 5. The bag filling machine as defined inclaim 4 further comprising: e. means, associated with said frame, forreleasing the gripped bag by positioning the filling spouts inwardly toa non-filling position and while positioning the gripping meansoutwardly to a non-gripping position.
 6. The bag filling machine asdefined in claim 5 further comprising: f. means, associated with saidframe, for raising the filling spouts and the gripping means above andout of proximity to the upper portion of the bag.
 7. The bag fillingmachine as defined in claim 4 wherein said opening means comprises inpart a plurality of suction cups.
 8. The bag filling machine as definedin claim 4 wherein the pre-determined distance ranges from approximatelyone-half inch to 1 inch.
 9. The bag filling machine as defined in claim4 wherein the filling spouts are formed as a pair of clamshells, eachclamshell having a generally U-shaped configuration with overlappingends.
 10. In a bag filling device for a packaging machine of the typewherein a plurality of objects are filled into a bag from a storage binhaving a lower transitional filling chute section, the improvementcomprising: a. an open ended fixed sleeve section being formed on thelower portion of the transition chute; b. a substantially verticalslideable sleeve section surrounding said fixed sleeve; c. a platemember fixedly attached to said slideable sleeve; d. a plurality ofmoveable and pivotable clamshells carried by said plate member andsurrounding the lower portion of said slideable sleeve, said clamshellsbeing moveable from an upward non-filling position to a downwardnon-filling position and then to an outward filling position; e. aplurality of retractable gripping means, associated with said platemember, said gripping means being moveable from an upward non-grippingposition to a downward non-gripping position and then to an inwardgripping position; and f. means, associated with the transition chute,the plate member, the slideable sleeve, the pivotable clamshells, andthe retractable gripping means, for carrying and positioning the platemember, the clamshells, the slideable sleeve and the gripping means insuch a manner that the slideable sleeve can be moved downwardly to apredetermined position, with the clamshells inside the bag and thegripping means outside the bag, after which the pivotable clamshells maybe pivoted outwardly to their filling position and the retractablegripping means may be positioned inwardly to their gripping positions toexert a gripping force to retain the bag therebetween, a furtherdownwardly movement of the plate member caused by a lowering of the bagas it is filled serving to increase the gripping force on the bag. 11.The improvement as defined in claim 10 wherein said carrying andpositioning means comprises in part at least one positioning cylinderfixedly attached at its upper end to the transition chute and fixedlyattached at its lower end to the plate member for vertical movement ofthe frame in proximity and out of proximity to the bag.
 12. Theimprovement as defined in claim 11 wherein said carrying and positioningmeans further comprises in part a plurality of elongated rods pivotablymounted to said clamshells at one end thereof and slideably mounted atthe other end thereof to the transition chute, said rods being springbiased so that an upward motion of the plate member serves to pivot theclamshells to an upward non-filling position whereas a downward motionof the plate member serves to move the clamshells downwardly first to adownward non-filling position, a further downward motion of the platemember serving to pivot the clamshells to an outward filling position.13. The improvement as defined in claim 12 wherein said carrying andpositioning means further comprises in part a plurality of inclined rodswhich are pivotably mounted at their upper ends to the clamshells andare pivotably mounted at their lower ends to the retracting grippingmeans, said spring biased elongated rods and said gripping means beinginterrelated in such a manner that a predetermined downward motion ofthe plate member releases the spring bias allowing the clamshells toassume their filling position whereupon a further downward motion of thespring biased elongated rods causes the retrActable gripping means tomove inwardly to exert a gripping force and to clamp the bag between thegripping means and the clamshells, a still further downward motion ofthe plate member caused by a lowering of the bag as it is filled causinga further gripping force to be exerted between the gripping means andthe clamshells.